Proposed Toyota Class Action Dismissed with Prejudice in CA

Tae Hee Lee et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

CASE RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. CASE RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE.

A federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice a proposed class action alleging Toyota improperly marketed its “Pre-Collision System”. At issue was the plaintiffs’ claim that the "Pre-Collision System" on the 2010 Toyota Prius and the 2012 Toyota Prius v models (and other unidentified Toyota vehicles) did not provide real safety benefits, based in large part on an Insurance Institute of Highway Safety report, which detailed testing conducted on the automatic braking feature of the PCS system in a 2013 Prius v.

The judge found that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the suit because they failed to allege an “injury in fact.” While the court’s ruling on standing was fatal to the claim, the court went on to address each claim within the Plaintiffs’ complaint and in each instance ruled Plaintiffs’ pleading failed and could not be cured by further amendment.